Related Links

Holding down both fronts

By KAREN ROGANOV / Special to the Daily News

Published: Thursday, January 16, 2014 at 09:20 PM.

EGLIN AFB — Historically, the family has held down the home front while men have gone to war.

One soldier was awarded the Silver Star in front of a room filled with supporters Thursday during a ceremony honoring 15 Green Berets of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) for battlefield valor in Afghanistan last year.

While he was deployed, his wife minded their home.

“It was very tough. He had a lot of mission going on and a lot of friends who got injured,” wife Nicole said. “I am happy he is home.”

As part of Army policy, the Special Forces soldiers’ names are withheld from publication.

The Green Beret’s 2-year-old son had a disrupted sleep pattern much like his father.

“He had a lot of screaming during the night because he wanted his daddy,” Nicole said.

And while the soldier was putting himself in the “direct line of enemy fire,” according to remarks read when he was awarded the Silver Star, his mother was helping take care of his wife and children.

“I could not have done it without her,” Nicole said emphatically as she pointed to her mother-in-law, Gladys Ortiz.

Nicole will become a new Crestview police officer today. Her husband will be on hand at the ceremony.

“I was able to go to the police academy because of her help,” she said of Ortiz.

It wasn’t easy for Ortiz, either. She quit her job as a banquet chef in Orlando to move in with Nicole and her son and 12-year-old daughter.

“I don’t know much about the Army. I was watching the news. … I prayed a lot,” Ortiz said.

Although her husband is home now, it won’t be long before he has more training, Nicole said. So Ortiz will stay on while Nicole pulls night shifts as a police officer.

At the medals ceremony, the 7th Group’s deputy commander recognized the family support given to all the men.

“Each (man) has their own family, friends and loved ones that make up a life separate from the life they share within the 7th Special Forces Group,” Col. Robert Kirila said.

Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published
without permission. Links are encouraged.

EGLIN AFB — Historically, the family has held down the home front while men have gone to war.

One soldier was awarded the Silver Star in front of a room filled with supporters Thursday during a ceremony honoring 15 Green Berets of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) for battlefield valor in Afghanistan last year.

While he was deployed, his wife minded their home.

“It was very tough. He had a lot of mission going on and a lot of friends who got injured,” wife Nicole said. “I am happy he is home.”

As part of Army policy, the Special Forces soldiers’ names are withheld from publication.

The Green Beret’s 2-year-old son had a disrupted sleep pattern much like his father.

“He had a lot of screaming during the night because he wanted his daddy,” Nicole said.

And while the soldier was putting himself in the “direct line of enemy fire,” according to remarks read when he was awarded the Silver Star, his mother was helping take care of his wife and children.

“I could not have done it without her,” Nicole said emphatically as she pointed to her mother-in-law, Gladys Ortiz.

Nicole will become a new Crestview police officer today. Her husband will be on hand at the ceremony.

“I was able to go to the police academy because of her help,” she said of Ortiz.

It wasn’t easy for Ortiz, either. She quit her job as a banquet chef in Orlando to move in with Nicole and her son and 12-year-old daughter.

“I don’t know much about the Army. I was watching the news. … I prayed a lot,” Ortiz said.

Although her husband is home now, it won’t be long before he has more training, Nicole said. So Ortiz will stay on while Nicole pulls night shifts as a police officer.

At the medals ceremony, the 7th Group’s deputy commander recognized the family support given to all the men.

“Each (man) has their own family, friends and loved ones that make up a life separate from the life they share within the 7th Special Forces Group,” Col. Robert Kirila said.